Raven's Call
by Voldy's Sidekick
Summary: So everyone knows what happens during the Harry Potter books, but what happens next?  J K Rowling left a brief blurb about what happens 19 years later, and that is where my story begins following Renn Ravenclaw through her time at Hogwarts.
1. The Wand, the Train, and the Hat

August 31st, 19 years after the fall of the Dark Lord; approximately 11:35 at night

Renn Ravenclaw stared at the stars on the ceiling of her room and worried. Her trunk was packed with books and potions ingredients, all her robes were folded and chosen, her other 2 triplets Rachel and Rain slept soundly in their beds next to her, and her owl Medusa sat in her cage after hunting. For the past 10 years and 361 days of her life, Renn waited and longed for the day that she would get on the Hogwarts express, unfortunately with Rain and Rachel, like her 5 sisters and brother before her, yet now that the day was so near at hand an anxious knot twisted into her stomach that despite Renn's best efforts would not dissipate.

_Maybe I shouldn't have made that comment to Rachel and Rain about our upcoming sorting..._ Renn thought back to breakfast that morning with her family. As usual, Renn was up first aside from Robin, the 4th oldest out of the 8 Ravenclaw siblings. Robin was sitting down at the kitchen table and rocked in her chair until she caught sight of her little sister.

"The Princess awakens!" Robin leaped up from her chair and bowed to Renn with a mock flourish. "Doth thou need thy royal chair for thy royal rear?" She pulled out a chair at one end of the lengthy table and gestured for her little sister to sit down.

Renn raised her eyebrow at Robin and the two of them burst out laughing. Mrs. Ravenclaw chose that moment to enter the kitchen. Upon seeing her daughters goofing off, she gave a little cough to announce her presence. Renn and Robin immediately stopped laughing and started on their morning chores: Robin went to clean the stables, Renn started on the kitchen. Mrs. Ravenclaw was the head of the Ravenclaw house, and a force to be reckoned with. Normally, she loves all of her children (she is the one who wanted the big family after all), but she has always hated Renn. With a little smile of satisfaction at teaching her daughters the importance of staying on task, Mrs. Ravenclaw started cooking breakfast.

Just after Mrs. Ravenclaw finished cooking, Robert, the only male Ravenclaw, and the second oldest of the eight siblings, raced down the stairs. He grabbed a piece of toast and slice of bacon before apparating out of the kitchen. After Ollivander retired, Robert took over his business. He was Ollivander's apprentice, and now Ollivander's granddaughter is his. August 31st was always the busiest day of the year for last minute Hogwarts shopping and he was already running late.

A few minutes later, Rebecca came down the stairs followed by her boyfriend Greg who carried her suitcase in one hand. That morning, the two of them were heading back to their apartment and their jobs at the Ministry of Magic after taking a week off of work to visit Rebecca's family.

"I just missed Robert didn't I?" She asked her mother, who just nodded at her. "Figures, he can't even wait two seconds before rushing off to work to say goodbye to his twin," she gave Greg a very sad look causing him to put his arm around her. "Is anyone else up?"

"We are!" Rachel and Rain stuck their heads out of the hallway that led to their bedroom. "We wouldn't DARE miss the last day we get to see you!" Rachel chirped as she ran to her sister. "Especially not since the next time we see you, we'll be powerful wizards like you!" Rain continued for her sister as she tackled Rebecca a split second after Rachel, almost knocking Rebecca to the floor. Rain's comment caused Renn to try and cover a laugh unsuccessfully as she washed the dishes. The room fell silent and everyone turned to stare at her. Renn took her cue to shut up, do the dishes, and not to laugh at her silly sister.

"Renee Helena Ravenclaw, may I speak to you outside?" Mrs. Ravenclaw asked her in a deadly voice. _Uh-oh..._ Renn thought to herself _She used the middle name, not good._ She did as her mother asked and followed her outside. As she left, the kitchen resumed its buzz of conversation. Suddenly Mrs. Ravenclaw stopped walking and turned Renn to face her.

"Do you not remember anything I have taught you for the last 10 years of your life?" Mrs. Ravenclaw spoke so quietly it sounded like a whisper. "Have your manners and respect gone out the window? You slander the name of our ancestors-"

_Oh boy, the ancestor talk_ Renn thought exasperatedly to herself. Mrs. Ravenclaw loved to remind Renn and anyone else that would listen that they are related to Rowena Ravenclaw. Apparently, Helena had a twin sister Hyacinth (twins run in the family) that went on to marry after the death of her sister and mother; she is Renn's great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother. When she married, she insisted that she keep her name of Ravenclaw and that her descendants keep it as well. So it became a tradition in the Ravenclaw family that when the girls married, the husbands changed their names instead. Mr. Ravenclaw's name used to be Faust before he met Mrs. Ravenclaw in St. Mungo's visiting her brother.

"-a waste! You can at least show signs of your good upbringing! Do I make myself clear Renee?" Mrs. Ravenclaw asked her daughter, much louder than when she originally started speaking to her. _But I _do_ show signs of my good upbringing—or lack of it _Renn thought to herself. "Do I make myself clear?" Mrs. Ravenclaw asked again.

"Crystal clear mother," Renn replied meekly.

"Good," Mrs. Ravenclaw's expression changed suddenly into a calm mask. "Now, go back into the kitchen and act like the civilized girl I raised." Mrs. Ravenclaw headed back to the kitchen muttering things like "Imagine if she acts like that at Hogwarts!" Renn started towards the kitchen again, but stopped when she saw Robin emerge from her hiding place behind a tree.

"I suppose you hear all that," she stated to her sister. Robin came up and gave her a hug. "Don't believe a word of what she says Renny, you've got more personality than anyone else in this house, besides me of course," Robin assured her, making Renn chuckle into her shoulder. "Now, we'll go in there together, kiss Rebecca goodbye, and go get your wand from Robert."

Smiling, the two sisters entered the kitchen. By this time, Mr. Ravenclaw, Ruth, and Rhiannon came downstairs and everyone was seated at the table eating. To Renn's dismay, the only seats open were next to Rain and Rachel. _At least Robin will be on the other side of me, _she tried to reassure herself as she sat next to her other triplets. Rain and Rachel gave her a wicked little smirk as she sat down giving Renn the sinking feeling that this was going to be one of those days.

"Renee doesn't deserve the Ravenclaw name" Rachel whispered to Rain just quietly enough that Renn could hear. "Maybe mother will disown her," Rain responded quietly. "Maybe you two need to get lives, or you'll wind up without a place in Ravenclaw's house on account of your bad manners," Renn replied with acid in her voice, causing Rachel and Rain to have horror stricken looks on their faces like the thought had never occurred to them before.

"Renee, do I need to speak with you again?" Mrs. Ravenclaw spoke from the other end of the table, causing everyone else in the household to turn and stare stoically at Renn. _How the heck did she even hear me?_ Renn thought to herself. "No you don't mother, Renn was just telling Rain and Rachel how excited she is to go get her wand from Robert today," Robin jumped into the conversation. Rain and Rachel got their wands yesterday, but because of the crowds Renn couldn't get her wand that day.

"Actually, we should probably head out now so we can beat the crowds," Robin stood and turned to leave, Renn following close behind. "Thank you," Renn whispered to her once they were by the family's fireplace. "What are good sisters for?" Robin replied as she threw Floo Powder into the flames and whisked the pair of them off to Diagon Alley.

Just as Robin predicted, Diagon Alley was packed with people despite the early hour. The sisters slipped into Ollivanders just as Robert flipped the sign on the door to "Open". He saw his sisters walking up the path and held the door for them as they stepped inside.

"My two favorite sisters!" He smiled at them, but his expression turned serious as he faced Renn. "I apologize for not getting you a wand yesterday; mother would have been displeased if the aliens didn't get theirs the day she wanted them to. Plus, now I have an excuse to see you alone," Renn smiled at his use of the nickname the three of them made up for Rain and Rachel.

"Rebecca's cross at you for not sticking around to see her off," Robin crossed her arms at her brother. Robert sighed and shrugged at Robin. "I'll deal with her later; the best day of my life was the first day I was separated from her. But now there are more pressing matters at hand. Renn, it is time to get you a wand,"

Robert went to a shelf and removed a wand from a box and handed it to Renn only to pull it from her hand immediately. This process went on with several more wands until Robert paused momentarily. "I have an idea Renn, hold on one moment," he disappeared into the back room of the shop and emerged with 3 boxes. "This is a new idea of mine that I had while I was studying with Ollivander. Could you try this wand for me?" He pulled out a beautiful black wand and handed it gingerly to Renn. She held it for a moment, and waved it in a circle producing a jet of silver and blue sparks that filled the shop. Renn smiled and turned to her brother, who just stared at her with an amazed expression on his face.

"Wasn't that good?" Renn asked him getting worried that the wand disliked her.

"Oh it was better than good Renn, that was brilliant," Robert replied to his sister. "I'm just...surprised. Your wand is very unique and says lots about what you could accomplish. That wand is the first ever made with a dual core, and one of five in the entire world. I have sold two of the others, but these three are the only ones left. That one is 13 inch Holly with a phoenix feather _and_ thestral hair core. From what Ollivander taught me, that wand is very powerful but is going to face and encounter death." Renn's expression turned frightened as she looked at the little wand in her hand. "The fact that this wand chose you, well your future shall be great but dangerous. Walk with caution Renn," Robert concluded sadly.

"Maybe you shouldn't mention to our parents the dual core of your wand," Robin suggested to Renn and she nodded emphatically. Mrs. Ravenclaw in particular despised death and felt it was a negative force, which would only lead her to dislike Renn even more than she already did. "Just tell her it had a phoenix feather core."

After saying their goodbyes to Robert, Renn and Robin solemnly headed back to the Ravenclaw's house. "Remember Renn, what happened here is strictly between the three of us," Robin reminded her unnecessarily before they entered the fire that would take them home. She needn't have worried; the two people who knew the nature of her wand were the only two family members of hers that she trusted.

September 1st, 8:13 AM

_The tunnel was pitch black, but the darkness was banished by a sudden burst of flame behind Renn. All she could see were the flames in front of her illuminating the brick walls of the tunnel that seemed to stretch into eternity, and all she could hear were Robin's cries for help. As she dodged the flames, suddenly she saw a pair of giant skeletal wings floating racing down the tunnel above her head. Renn could now see Robin in the distance as the wings descended and attached themselves to her back. Robin reached out to Renn and called out her name as the wings carried her off into the darkness…_

"ROBIN!" Renn yelled, bolting straight up in bed. Suddenly she realized the tunnel was nothing but a dream and Robin was probably sitting in her room or out at the stables saying goodbye to her horse Stella. Renn sighed in relief and put her head in her hands. _When did I even fall asleep?_ she asked herself. So much had happened during the day before that she didn't even remember dozing off.

"Robin! Robin!" two high pitched mocking voices laughed in unison, revealing the presence of Rachel and Rain in the room. Renn lifted her head to scowl at her sisters. _How am I even related to these two?_ Renn thought as she stared at them. Even though the three of them were triplets, the only things they all had in common were their black hair and their birthday. Rachel and Rain looked like mirror images of each other with black shoulder length hair, angular faces, and light blue eyes. The two of them shared a mind link and never had to speak out loud to know what the other was thinking. Renn on the other hand had green eyes and her black hair fell to her waist. She had a lighter skin tone than Rachel and Rain, and her face was heart shaped. Renn was also significantly taller than Rachel and Rain and stood like a slender willow at 5'3, while Rachel and Rain were both 4'8.

"If the baby doesn't hurry up, she'll miss the train," Rain sneered.

"How lovely!" Rachel commented, and the two of them raced out of the room.

_The train!_ Renn sprang from her bed, grabbed her wand and suitcases (much to the annoyance of Medusa who was sleeping in her cage until now), and bolted out the door to the ministry car Rebecca got for them all to ride in. The rest of the family was already piled inside except for Robin who helped Renn get her bags in the car. Robin slid into the car first, carefully seating herself between Renn and the other 2 triplets.

As soon as the door shut behind them, the ministry car took off; 10 minutes later, they arrived at King's Cross Station, 15 minutes to 9. Renn stood in awe as she looked at the train, even though she saw the Hogwarts express every year for as long as she could remember. When they passed through the barrier, Robert was waiting for them at platform 9 and ¾ beside the train engine. After giving a hug to Mr. and Mrs. Ravenclaw, Robert motioned to Renn and Robin to talk with him away from the family. Mrs. Ravenclaw was too busy fussing over Rachel and Rain to notice them walk away.

As the three of them walked, Renn saw from the corner of her eye a family of 5. The dad had shaggy black hair, green eyes, and a scar on his forehead. _Harry Potter!_ Renn thought to herself; she saw other students and parents staring just like she was. Robert stopped suddenly and Renn almost crashed into him after being so focused on the Potter family. _Wish we were more like that_, she thought enviously. The Potters clearly loved their 3 children.

"Renn, I have some bad news," Robert began. "Last night, Ollivander's was broken into." Here Renn and Robin cut him off with respective gasps of horror. "Every charm I placed was dismantled and only 2 wands were stolen-the two other dual core wands. I checked Cassie to see if she had told anyone what was guarding the shop and used veritaserum on her with her permission. Even under veritaserum, she could not remember a period of two hours of the day before you came in. There was a powerful memory charm placed on her mind; someone powerful is after dual core wands. I'm afraid for you Renn-your wand out of all the dual core wands I made is the most powerful because it was the first dual core wand, and the core substances are the most volatile to work with. If you want, we could go back to my shop and exchange your wand-"

"No," Renn cut him off. "This wand chose me for a reason. If the wand thinks I can handle the power and the responsibility, then I must be able to. Plus, you should be worrying about the other 2 dual core wands that you sold; shouldn't their owners be warned that someone is after our wands?"

"They have already been informed," Robert lowered his voice even more. "I'm more worried that one of them is the thief. The only people who knew the existence of the dual core wands are their owners, Robin, Cassie, and me. Since the wands were stolen the day you got yours, I think it was your wand they wanted, after all, your wand is the most powerful of the dual cores."

"I hate to say this Renn, but maybe Robert is right for once," Robin looked over at Robert, who socked her in the arm playfully. "This wand sounds like trouble. We don't know what it can do, we don't know anything about the people who are after it, and we don't know how much they know about the wand's holders."

"I think this is the first time I've heard you be cautious about anything," Renn chuckled at her sister. "But your caution is not unwarranted. I want to keep this wand, something about it feels _right_. None of the other wands in the shop were going to choose me when this one had its bid up. The wand chose me. It must think I'm ready for the task that's to come." She leaned over to give her siblings a hug and the whistle on the train echoed through the station, signaling the nearness of her departure. "Let me know if you find anything Robert. I'll tell you if something weird goes on with my wand, but now we've got to go. I love you and I'm glad you care about me enough to worry."

She gave Robert a quick kiss on the cheek, took Robin by the hand, and they raced on board the train. They leaned as far as they could out of the window, and waved to Robert, who now moved to stand with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Ravenclaw stood side by side, Mr. Ravenclaw waving animatedly with Robert, and Mrs. Ravenclaw staring stoically at Renn with almost an expression of relief on her face. Robin and Renn stayed leaning out the side until their forms faded away into the fog.

A girl with bright green hair waved at Robin, and beckoned to her to go further down the train. "I'm going to go sit with her Renn, you should go see what other first years you can find on the train," she gave Renn a hug, but kept a hold of her shoulders and bent down to whisper to her. "If anything weird happens with your wand, anything at all, come and find me—no matter what hour it is." With that she turned and raced off down further along the train.

Renn moved along down the train, but all the apartments she came across already had someone in them. The emptiest one she could find had two people in it, and she decided to take a chance. She knocked at the door,

"May I sit—"

She cut herself off at her surprise of being face to face with a boy the mirror image of Harry Potter. He turned towards her from the window, and his green eyes sparkled inquisitively at her from underneath the square frame of his glasses and a messy mop of jet black hair. A girl sat opposite him, and her short reddish brown hair caught the glint of the sunlight from the window, making it appear like her whole head was on fire.

"Sure, you can sit with us," she smiled at Renn shyly. "It seems silly for Albus and me to have this whole compartment to ourselves. I'm Rose. Rose Weasley." Rose extended a pale arm to Renn, which she took gingerly as she sat down; her arm was so thin Renn feared she would break it.

"Renn Ravenclaw,"

"You're a Ravenclaw?" Albus asked. "But why don't your robes have their badge and blue lining?"

"I'm a first year like you two," Renn explained. "My last name is Ravenclaw."

"You're related to Rowena Ravenclaw?" Rose asked with unbidden excitement written all over her face.

"Yeah," Renn replied, embarrassed at her enthusiasm. _I hope she doesn't start doing what my mother does because of our last name,_ she worried. "She's a great-great-great-great-aunt give or take a couple dozen more 'great's."

"That would be so cool!" Rose looked up wistfully. "If I'm not a Gryffindor, I hope I'm a Ravenclaw. As long as I'm not a Slytherin." Her facial expression turned sour and her enthusiasm vanished. "But you'll be a Ravenclaw for sure! You don't have to worry about the sorting hat ceremony; I'm so nervous!"

"Not Slytherin…" Albus whispered from the corner, as he twiddled with a chocolate frog card in his hand.

"It looks like I'll wind up in Ravenclaw, all seven of my siblings were," Renn chuckled.

"You have _seven_ siblings?" Rose looked at Renn in astonishment. "Wow, you need to meet my dad—you beat him for biggest family, he had six siblings. My mom was an only child though."

"And I thought two was bad," Albus laughed. "Then again, when you have a brother like James you get triple the trouble." Renn smiled at Albus, thinking that when he got used to you he was really quite nice.

Just then, the trolley door slipped open again, and a kindly lady looked in at them. "Anything off the trolley dears?" she asked them sweetly.

"Just a pumpkin pasty please," Renn handed her the appropriate funds, and turned back to her newfound friends. Albus cleaned out the cart when he ordered, and the three of them spent a considerable amount of time digging through chocolate frog cards, daring each other to eat the really suspicious looking Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, and casting fake spells at each other with the licorice wands.

"Have either of you tried to do any magic yet?" Rose asked the two of them, who now looked quite sick from all of their sweets. "I know we aren't supposed to, but my mom said as long as she was watching I could practice some before going to school."

"I haven't dared try anything yet," Albus replied from under the mound of candy wrappers. "James was always watching and he would have told our parents in a heartbeat. How about you Renn? Tried any interesting incantations yet?"

"No," Renn pulled her wand out of her bag. "I guess I should try something; Rachel and Rain will know all the jinxes by the time we get off the train. What should I try first?"

Before Rose or Albus could reply, the compartment door slid open again, and a boy with platinum blonde hair stood in the entryway. He surveyed the contents of the compartment with distaste, and as soon as he spotted Albus, his face turned into a smirk.

"So, just because you're related to Harry Potter you think you can live more grandly than the rest of us?" He gestured to the candy wrappers around them. Rose's face started turning pink, but Albus just stared at the new boy with disinterest. When the boy turned around more and saw Renn, his look changed to one of surprise. "Do my eyes deceive me, or is there a Ravenclaw in my presence?"

"No, you haven't gone blind yet," Renn looked at him, unsure whether to be offended or flattered at his words. "And yet, just because you see my heritage doesn't mean you see me." The boy looked at her blankly for a moment, but a glint appeared in his eye and he winked.

"So which Ravenclaw do I have the pleasure of making my acquaintance?" He extended a hand to her, with Rose and Albus looking at her warily from behind him. "I'm Scorpius Malfoy."

Now it was Renn's turn to get wide-eyed. The name Malfoy was also familiar to her, but its history was a much darker one than those of Potter or Weasley. Malfoy was a name that parents told their kids at night in tales about Voldemort to make them behave. Squelching her nerves, she took his hand and looked him confidently in the eye, determined to not let him see the affect _his_ upbringing had on her opinion of him. "Renn," she coolly introduced herself, not letting emotion show on her face.

The door to the compartment slid open for the fourth time that night, revealing a tall boy at least two years older than the four of them wearing Slytherin robes. When he saw Scorpius' hand in Renn's, he gave a disapproving look and Scorpius withdrew his hand so quickly, Renn wasn't even sure it was ever really there. With one quick sneer at Rose and Albus, and one unreadable look towards Renn, he followed the mystery figure out of the compartment.

"That was weird," Rose half whispered, unsure of who else was out in the hallway. "Talk about nerve! And then he saw you and his personality did a 360…but who was that guy?"

"I have no clue," Renn truthfully told them. "He seemed somehow familiar, but I couldn't place him."

"Huh," Albus pondered quietly. "Hey, weren't you going to try something with your wand before those two came in? I think you should try and make the chocolate frog card fly. You know the spell right?"

_Wingardium Leviosa,_ she thought to herself and she nodded at Albus. Robert used this spell all the time to make Renn's books dance around her room when he came to visit. She lifted her wand, moved it in the swish and flick pattern as she proclaimed "_Wingardium Leviosa!_"

Suddenly, not only was the chocolate frog card floating, but everything in the room started levitating. Rose shrieked as she started to float higher and higher off her chair, and Albus desperately tried to reach out and grab his wand. The entire compartment looked like it entered zero-gravity, and Renn was the only thing not in the air.

"_Get me down!_" Rose flailed her arms wildly, and she bumped into the ceiling.

"I don't know how!" Renn panicked. She tried just moving her wand down slowly, but that solved nothing. Then she remembered an incantation Rebecca always used at the ministry to end an enchantment. _It can't possibly get worse, so it's worth a shot,_ she tried to reassure herself.

"_Finite Incantatem!"_ she shouted, moving her wand in an upward arc. It started glowing, and everything suddenly fell to the ground. Rose and Albus wound up sprawled on the ground in a heap and it looked like a tornado hit the room.

Rose stood and dusted herself off, giving Renn a wary look as she helped Albus up. Just then, the whistle blew, and the train rolled to a stop signaling their arrival at Hogwarts.

"That was so cool!" Albus jumped up excitedly. "I've always wondered what it would be like to fly; now I know!" Rose looked at Albus before looking back at Renn, and all three of them burst out laughing. They looked up when they realized everyone was getting off the train, and rushed around to grab their things.

Since they were the last ones to leave, most of the boats to take the first years up to the castle were already filled, and the three of them all clamored into the only boat with room. Unfortunately, the other occupant of the boat was Scorpius, who looked none too pleased to be sandwiched between Rose and Albus. Suddenly the boats began to move, and Rose fell over to the side to land on Renn, almost sending them both sprawling into the water. Scorpius and Albus both jumped up to pull them back into the boat, only somehow Renn and Rose had swapped seats, leaving Rose sitting to Renn's right, Scorpius on her left, and Albus across from her. Scorpius turned very stoically forward and didn't say a word to any of them the whole boat ride.

Albus, Renn, and Rose were chatting happily when they got their first glimpse of Hogwarts. It was everything Renn had ever dreamed of; even from this distance, there was something distinctly magical about the castle's outside illuminated by the floating candles guiding the boats across the lake. The forbidden forest was to the left, and there were a range of mountains behind the castle with small twinkling lights from Hogsmeade at their base. Hagrid's booming voice called out from the front of the fleet of boats, and even at this distance Renn could see the slight grey streak in his hair and his massive silhouette blocking out a corner of the castle. The first years in his boat only looked slightly terrified; Renn heard once a first year jumped into the lake in shock the first time they saw Hagrid.

"Alrigh' e'ryone outta the boats!" Hagrid gestured with his enormous lantern, as he disembarked from his boat as it pulled up to the edge of the lake. Albus calmly rose to his feet and jokingly offered Rose his arm to help her out of the boat. Grudgingly, she accepted the help and then shoved him to the side, as Albus laughed. Scorpius turned to Renn with a questioning expression on his face, but quickly turned away and climbed out of the boat, pushing Albus out of the way as he disappeared into the throng of first years, even though many gave him a wide berth. As he moved deeper into the crowd, Renn saw an expression of deep sorrow flash through his eyes before it was replaced by cool, steely indifference and she lost sight of him in the crowd.

Surprisingly for Renn, Albus, Rose, and she all received a wide berth too as they exited from their boat; unlike Scorpius though, the wide eyes and pointing were accompanied by smiles, not looks of horror. Albus looked calmly ahead and Rose turned to grab Renn's hand, promptly cutting off all her circulation. _Holy Helena she's got a grip for such tiny arms!_ Renn winced to herself.

At the same time, she found herself searching the crowd for Scorpius, ignoring the misgivings of Albus and Rose. As she searched, her eyes lingered on a boy with wavy golden brown hair, sparkling green eyes, a rugged jaw line, and just muscular enough to be toned without having his muscles pop out of his body. He stood alone in the crowd, and even though girls were eying him on all sides, he seemed unconcerned and disconnected from all that. When he saw Renn looking at him without the slightly hypnotized look of all the other girls, he smiled at her, and made his way through the first years towards her. Rose had been talking non-stop to Renn the whole time she had looked around but shut up as soon as she saw the boy heading towards them; however, her grip on Renn's wrist tightened even more-a feat Renn had thought impossible.

"Hello there," he smiled charmingly. He extended a tan arm towards the two of them. "The name is Kyle. May I have the pleasure of knowing yours?"

Sensing that Rose was too stunned to do much but stare, Renn took his hand in hers first. "I'm Renn and this is Rose." Still stunned, Rose delayed another second before taking Kyle's hand and turning as red as her hair. After a quick deer-in-the-headlights glance at Renn, and an additional quick look at Kyle, she booked it back towards Albus and leeched herself onto his arm. "She's a bit nervous about the sorting," Renn covered for Rose's jitters. "I keep telling her she'll do fine but she's still worrying about living up to the name of whatever house she's put in. Where do you think you'll end up?"

"Gryffindor," Kyle shrugged. "I'm only a half-blood, but on the wizarding side of my family there hasn't been a single one of us that hasn't ended up in Gryffindor. If I'm correct in my assumptions, you are a Ravenclaw right?"

"By blood only so far, but yes you are correct," Renn stated, surprised that he picked out her heritage. Scorpius' prediction earlier had thrown her a bit too, but under the circumstances she didn't say anything about it at the time. "Do you have any siblings that already go here? Most people only make the Ravenclaw connection when they've met one of my siblings."

"I'm an only child, but I've seen all of your siblings," Kyle replied. "Both my parents teach here, so I live on the grounds and I see everyone at one point or another. Some people say Hogwarts is more their home than the one they leave to come here, in my case Hogwarts is both."

"Oh cool!" Renn's eyes lit up. "Wait, didn't you say only one of your parents was a wizard?"

"Yeah, my mom is," Kyle began to explain. "She's the transfiguration teacher after McGonagall became headmistress. My dad became the Muggle studies teacher after the last one…ran into Voldemort." Renn shuddered as she remembered the last Muggle studies teacher was tortured and then fed to Voldemort's snake Nagini.

Suddenly, the doors to the Great Hall opened and all the first-years were quickly hustled into some semblance of two lines. Kyle wound up standing directly in front of Renn, and the procession into the Great Hall began. Renn's eyes grew to the size of saucers as she looked around—it was even larger and grander than she had dreamed. The first place she looked was up, and she wasn't disappointed at the view of the sky she received, a full lunar eclipse was scheduled to happen that day and it was just about to start, the moon was moving just into the ceiling's view now past the edge of the Hufflepuff banner on the far right edge of the wall. Gryffindor's banner was to her immediate right, and to her immediate left was the Ravenclaw banner followed by the Slytherin banner to the far left of the hall.

She looked down and saw rows upon rows of seats for students at the house tables, and along the Ravenclaw table her siblings faces all stared at the lines of first-years. Rhiannon actually smiled at her for half a second-surprising Renn almost as much as her inability to find Robin anywhere along the length of the table. Ruth looked at her antsily, like she had to stop at a really good part in her latest book which was now sitting beside her in order to watch the processional. Rachel and Rain were both further ahead of her in the line and just reached the headmaster's table before the columns of students turned into a glob. Renn and Kyle wound up standing next to Rose and Albus at the back of the group. A woman who appeared to be in her thirties stood erect at the head of the glob of first years with a list in her hand, and she opened her mouth to address the first years.

"When I call out your name, please come forward. I will place the sorting hat on your head, it will tell you your house, and you will go sit at your house table," she began to unroll the list, and the parchment just touched the floor which considering the woman's height at about 6'3" was quite the accomplishment. Though some women can't pull off height without looking like an overstretched llama, she looked nothing less than beautiful and her red hair was a dark crimson color that seemed unnatural but Renn's gut told her that this hair wasn't dyed or altered at all and that this woman was comfortable enough in her own body that she didn't need to even use makeup to make herself feel beautiful.

"That's my mother," Kyle whispered to Renn, and a look of brief surprise flashed on her face before noting some of the striking similarities between mother and son—they had the same nose, the same creamy brown eyes, even the way they held themselves was the same. "To keep from confusing her students with my fathers, she kept her maiden name so everyone calls my father Professor Helmsmith and my mother Professor Tylwyn."

"Aberforth, Charlotte!" Professor Tylwyn called out the first name, causing Renn and Kyle to stop whispering and draw their attention to a girl walking with her head held high to the stool that awaited her. Only the trembling of her hands betrayed her desire to hide her inner worry, and she sat herself down on the stool catching one last glimpse of the hall before Professor Tylwyn put the sorting hat over her head. The hat sat in silence for a minute or so before shouting to the hall "RAVENCLAW!" Polite applause came from all the tables and the people closest to the end of the Ravenclaw table stood to greet Charlotte. Now Renn could see Robin waiting at the edge of the table waiting to welcome her. When Robin saw her she shot a quick wink in her direction before turning her attention back to the sorting hat where "Arlington, Brett" had the hat proclaim him as a Hufflepuff.

This went on for a few more minutes with "Belmont, William" being made the first Slytherin and "Blair, Valerie" the first Gryffindor. When "Helmsmith, Kyle" was called, Kyle sent Renn a quick smile over his shoulder as he sat down on the stool. The hat had barely touched the top of his head when it screamed "GRYFFINDOR!" into the hall. Beaming, Kyle looked once briefly at his mom who was attempting to hide her smile behind the roll of names before racing down to the Gryffindor table where he was greeted by many hugs and pats on the back.

More names were called, and then "Malfoy, Scorpius!" The hall fell quiet as Scorpius walked calmly up to the stage. The hat was placed on his head and whispering went through the hall; Renn thought she could see Scorpius turn slightly red underneath the hat. Everyone sat in anticipation for a few minutes, waiting for the hat to make a decision but Scorpius didn't look nervous—he rather looked like he was having a battle with the hat. After what seemed like an eternity the hat sighed and shouted to the hall "SLYTHERIN!" And Scorpius went to go sit with the now whooping Slytherin table with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Potter, Albus!" was the next name that caught Renn's attention as the hall filled with more loud, excited whispers. Professor Tylwyn gave the students one stern look and the whispering abruptly stopped. Renn fought the urge to chuckle—she had a feeling she was going to like having Professor Tylwyn as a teacher. When Albus had the hat put on his head, the hat only waited for a few seconds before roaring "GRYFFINDOR!" The whole Gryffindor table did the wave as they stood to greet a relieved, but slightly embarrassed Albus to their table. Renn gave him a pat on the back as he walked down to join them.

"Ravenclaw, Rachel!" was the next name Professor Tylwyn called out, and Renn tensed automatically—two people left until she could finally begin her time at Hogwarts and not be solely identified by her inferiority to her siblings. The hall filled with whispers again and a couple of chuckles came from the Ravenclaw table. "RAVENCLAW!" the hat screamed out after being on Rachel's head for about thirty seconds. Rachel went over to the table and was greeted warmly by Rhiannon and Ruth, with a pat on the back from Robin.

Without waiting for Professor Tylwyn to call her name, Rain bounded up on stage and waited for the hat to be placed on her head. "Ravenclaw, Rain!" Professor Tylwyn announced to the hall anyways before placing the hat on her head. After a moments deliberation, the hat called "RAVENCLAW!" once again and Rain raced down to go be by Rachel again.

"Ravenclaw, Renee!" Professor Tylwyn called out. A nervous knot formed in Renn's stomach as she stepped up to the stage.

"Good luck!" Rose whispered to her. She smiled her thanks and walked up to the stool. One last time she scanned the hall, and every pair of eyes was on her. Albus and Kyle smiled at her from the Gryffindor table, Rose wrung her hands from the small group of unsorted first years, and her siblings all looked at her from the Ravenclaw table (although the only smile from any of them came from Robin). The last things she saw before Professor Tylwyn put the Sorting Hat over her head were Scorpius' eyes as he smiled at her from the Slytherin table.

"Now what have we here?" The Sorting Hat began to talk to itself in her head. "Another Ravenclaw! But the last, thank goodness. If your mother had any more children I would have fallen right off your head! Now, plenty of courage, strong desire to learn, phenomenal talent, but above all of that…"the hat paused and Renn felt her stomach clench in dread. "a desire to be recognized. The youngest of eight children, scorned by your mother and by the rest of your family as a result, and a nice healthy helping of vengeance. You want revenge on your other triplets and your mother as much as you want their love and acceptance. And power, power you don't even know of courses through your veins. I know where to put you now…"

And before Renn could think of anything to say to the hat that had seen the darkest part of herself that she wasn't even willing to admit existed, it did the unthinkable. The hat drew in breath and shouted to the hall:

"SLYTHERIN!"


	2. Stairs and Letters

The quiet whispering that had been going on throughout the whole sorting ceremony screeched to a halt. Dead silence filled the hall for a good three seconds before Robin shouted "What?" into the silence. Suddenly the Great Hall was in an uproar, the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables were throwing insults at each other. One Slytherin student attempted to throw one of the golden plates at the Ravenclaw table, and suddenly magic was flying around the room. Renn sat in horror as she saw Rose's look of fright as she threw up a shield that protected all the unsorted first years, Albus and Kyle's looks of apprehension and confusion as they looked at her, Scorpius' silent look of triumph, but worst of all Robin's look of despair as she sank to her chair, barely lucid enough to throw up a shield against all the charm work flying around the room.

"That is QUITE ENOUGH!" Headmaster McGonagall's voice rang out across the room as suddenly every student's wands flew out of their hands and hovered six feet above them in the air. "You are all a sorry sight!" she scolded as she looked out over her students, many of the Ravenclaws had beaks after someone started throwing a transformation curse, a couple of Slytherins had forked tongues, scaly skin, and slit eyes, but boils, nosebleeds, rug burns, jelly legs, and petrificus totalus were the most common symptoms of both houses. "One Hundred and Fifty points from both Ravenclaw AND Slytherin houses, and detention for all of you at varying times for the next month except for the new first years. I am very disappointed in your lack of unity not just as houses but as a school. Yes, Ms. Ravenclaw's sorting was very unprecedented, but that is no excuse for you all to behave like barbarians. Your heads of houses will also distribute what punishment they see fit. All of your wands will be returned to you after the sorting is done, and all those hit by a jinx will report to the Hospital Wing _during_ the welcome feast." She sat down, still holding her wand erect, and all the wands belonging to a Gryffindor or a Hufflepuff floated down, as well as the wands of the first years, to their respective owners.

Despite the tense atmosphere, the sorting went on without further incident. Rose was happily sorted into Gryffindor and joined Albus and Kyle at their table. Renn had perched herself at the very edge of the Slytherin table, leaving a couple of seats in between her and the next closest person. Scorpius kept scooting down chair by chair closer to Renn until that same boy from before glared at him, at which point he stopped even looking in Renn's direction. Finally, "Zevenberg, Eileen" was sorted into Hufflepuff, and Headmaster McGonagall stood and looked out at all her students.

"To those who are new here, welcome to Hogwarts," McGonagall smiled warmly to the first years. "To those who are not, welcome back. Whether this is your first year or your seventh, you are in for an unforgettable year of learning, magic, fun, and friendship. I must give you a few reminders before we all dig in. The Forbidden Forest is out of bounds, no matter what year you are in. Filch has asked me to remind you that most jokes from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes are still banned from school, for a specific list one is posted in the commons of each house dorm room. Magic is not to be used in the hallways," here she gave a pointed glance to the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables whose wands still floated above their heads. "Other than that, you must be in your dorms by the nine o'clock curfew. Now, I have done enough prattling and I'm sure you all are starving. Madame Pomfrey has told me that those hit by transfiguration curses will need to see Professor Tylwyn after the feast. Otherwise if you were hit by a jinx, go with her now," at these words about half of each table stood up and shuffled out of the room as their wands all fell back into their possession. McGonagall clapped her hands once, and every platter in the hall was covered with any kind of food you could imagine.

"Let's eat," McGonagall smiled at everyone and the Great Hall filled with chatter again despite the half empty Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables. Even though her candy sickness had worn off, Renn lost her appetite for food the second that hat was removed from her head. All her favorite foods were piled in front of her but just the thought of food made her ill. _Ravenclaw really has deserted me,_ Renn woefully thought. _Maybe mother was right, maybe I don't deserve to be here. _Renn continued to despair, but then she caught the eye of Albus, who smiled at her from the Gryffindor table. Even though he was petrified at the thought of being put in Slytherin himself, he didn't treat her any differently than if she was sorted into Ravenclaw's house.

And then Renn paused. Why should her placement into Slytherin change anything? If anything, her incentive to learn and prove everyone wrong should be even stronger. At that moment, she stopped pitying herself, and pitied more her siblings who wouldn't understand that although she would be picked on, although she would be an outcast, this curse was also a gift, for although she may be in Slytherin right now, she would not forget who she was: Renn Ravenclaw, descendant of the Hogwarts Four. Now was not the time to turn tail and run away. She grabbed a spoon, and put a large helping of cheesy mashed potatoes on her plate followed by half a dozen rolls of sushi.

"Fan of fish?" Scorpius had edged his way down the table to her, and she saw his plate contained some sushi as well. It looked like he was one of the people hit with a transfiguration charm though; his skin had a scaly print on it, his tongue was forked, and he had fangs.

"You could say that," Renn chuckled. _Anyone who will still talk to me is worth being nice to at this point,_ she thought. "Looks like you need to see Professor Tylwyn after this."

"I didn't get hit too badly," he shrugged off his appearance. "You should see what happened to Wayne—he could have given Voldemort a run for his money for most snake-like features. It was bad enough that he lost all his hair!"

Despite her attempt not to, Renn chuckled under her breath. "I'm glad no one sent jinxes flying my way," Renn commented. "Guess that's an inadvertent plus side to causing the whole mess."

"Personally," Scorpius leaned closer to her. "I'm glad you didn't wind up in Ravenclaw. If you had, you would be friends with Potter and Weasley and I wouldn't be able to talk with you again."

"What do you have against them Scorpius?" Renn asked him curiously.

"I have nothing against them at all," Scorpius backtracked some. "Actually I'd sort of like to get to know them and see for myself, but Wayne told me that if I went near them the deal would be off. That can't happen."

"You made a deal with a bald guy?" Renn looked at him with mock seriousness. "That's a bad sign Scorpius—all the bad guys in the movies are bald!" Scorpius burst out laughing for a minute before his face turned serious again.

"I'm not the one who made the deal—my dad is," Scorpius whispered. Before he could say anything else, the same boy from before came up to them and sat down directly across the table from them. It looked like this was the guy Scorpius was talking about earlier—only a tuft of his brown hair was left, and with only a small amount more focus from the caster, he would not just have snake-like features, he would _be_ a snake—even his skull shape had been altered by the spell's strength. Renn could visibly see Scorpius' blood run colder as he put a piece of sushi in his mouth, and Renn thought she heard him mumble something to her about trying the Alaska rolls.

"So, you are Renn Ravenclaw," the newcomer pointedly addressed her, making Scorpius gag on his sushi. The boy flicked his wand at Scorpius, dislodging the sushi from his windpipe and allowing Scorpius to breathe freely after a moment of coughing. His gaze never wavered from Renn and she noticed his eyes would look just like hers without the snake spell—they had the same shape and green coloring.

"That's me," Renn replied cautiously. Anyone who could make Scorpius that visibly uncomfortable was not good news.

"Wayne Fredrickson, fifth former," he extended a muscular hand across the table which Renn did not take. She raised one eyebrow at him and gave him a look that said very plainly "No thank you." His expression turned from politely interested to icy rage for half a second before it was masked again by politeness. "I am the leader of the Slytherin team at the dueling club here and the student vice president of the club itself. If you're interested, we generally don't offer membership on the team to first years but after seeing your charm work on the train..."

_Oh dragonhide, he saw that?_ Renn frantically thought to herself without letting her anxiousness show to Wayne. _Was that really so unusual? That was just a lack of focus on my part wasn't it?_

"—we are willing to make an exception," he continued with a smirk. "What do you say? Are you in?"

"Wayne," Renn started. "I have only been here for an hour, and the only spells I've ever performed were the ones you saw on the train. Joining a dueling club when I only know a spell and a half doesn't sound like a good idea. So thanks, but no thanks." She gave him a fake, squinty smile before turning back to her food.

"Renn," Scorpius whispered warningly to her. "No one tells him no. If you tell him no, bad things happen and they all look like accidents."

"I got that feeling," Renn whispered back. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to let him push me around. I'll probably join the club later but I won't be part of a dueling team—I'll duel for myself." She looked up to see Wayne staring at her with an intimidating expression on his face made worse by the snake transfiguration.

At that moment, Professor Tylwyn came up behind Wayne and tapped him on the shoulder. "You were hit with the worst of the botched transfiguration spells," she told him with an exasperated look on her face. "Since you will take the longest to heal, and so we can salvage some of your hair, come with me now. You might as well come too," she pointed at Scorpius across the table. With one venomous look at Renn, Wayne got up to follow Professor Tylwyn and Scorpius stood with him. As they walked away, Scorpius looked back at Renn over his shoulder and gave her a quick shrug before the three of them exited the Great Hall.

Renn went back to enjoying her meal in solitude. She couldn't help but think again that if she were placed in Ravenclaw, heck even if she were placed in Gryffindor or Hufflepuff, she wouldn't be eating alone. Slytherin certainly was living up to its reputation of being heartless. Scorpius was the only exception to the rule so far, but he was as new as Renn—he would fit into the Slytherin mold soon enough. _But no other first year from Slytherin has tried to talk to me either,_ a wishful voice in Renn's head commented. _Maybe Scorpius is different from them. He certainly wasn't too fond of Wayne—the perfect Slytherin._ Renn's more practical side told her that Scorpius would probably not change—all he's known are Slytherin tradition and values.

Putting thoughts of Scorpius out of her head, Renn decided that now was as good a time as any to start studying. Knowing Rachel and Rain, she should start with as many protection and counter spells as she could find. Opening _The Standard Book of Spells Grade One_, she flipped to the section about counter charms. Sadly, there was not much information about countering spells—after all in your first year, concepts and the ability to perform simple spells without error are more important than learning counter charms and protection spells. The first spell that was listed was Protego, a spell to create a bubble shield around yourself to deflect most spells. It was listed "For Advanced Students Only"; Renn knew then that she would need to spend lots of time in the library looking up spells.

She just had time to memorize the wand movement, when the classes all stood up to exit the Great Hall. Startled by the sudden movement of chairs, Renn was late getting out of her chair and was the last to move towards the Slytherin Prefect to be shown to the dorms.

"Miss Ravenclaw!" Renn froze hardly daring to believe her bad luck that Headmistress McGonagall called her out of the group. She put on an inquisitive, and what she hoped was meek look and turned to face McGonagall. Another girl Renn's age was standing by McGonagall looking around the Great Hall with an unreadable expression on her face. She was very pretty; her black hair was cut shoulder length and was curled in perfect ringlets to frame her face, setting off her light violet eyes and her dark mocha skin. She had a willowy frame similar to Renn's, and the two of them were about the same height. McGonagall beckoned, and the three of them walked further behind the Slytherins towards the dungeons.

"This is Miss Marksman," McGonagall gestured to the girl next to her. "She arrived late and was just sorted into Slytherin. In light of the abnormalities in your situations, I thought it would be best for the two of you to room together apart from the rest of the Slytherins." _Another way to make us stand out,_ Renn sighed to herself as they walked closer towards the dungeons.

"I understand that you don't want to do more to distinguish yourselves from other students," McGonagall continued as if she read Renn's mind, "but there is a secret room in each of the dorms in case we have students who would be better protected if they were not sleeping openly with the rest of their class. I have already been made aware of a few plots to humiliate or harm you Miss Ravenclaw and school hasn't even started yet; plus Miss Marksman will be rooming there and I think it would be beneficial for both of you to have someone else sharing a room with you that won't plot your demise.

"My goal is to keep you both as safe as possible and give you both as normal a Hogwarts experience as possible—the best way I can see to do that is to have you both room in here together. Also, since there are students in other houses who are in the same situation, there is a door in each of your rooms that connects to a commons for all the students who are better kept safe separate. They will be your house within your house; anyone who attempts to enter the door into one of the other house's rooms will receive detention and a rather nasty jinx that Madame Pomfrey will have to sort out.

"The students staying in the rooms are expected to meet each other in the commons at 8:30. The heads of house and I will all be there so we will know if you ditch." McGonagall ended her explanation just as all the Slytherins came to a halt in front of a bare wall.

"_Venomous Tentacula_!" A prefect from the front of the horde shouted, and a door opened in the wall. The Slytherins began to file in, and Renn turned to face McGonagall.

"Headmaster, do we get any say in this at all?" Renn looked at her with what she hoped was a reasonable expression on her face, hardly believing that she was challenging a teacher at all. "I mean I'm sure you're a nice person," she said in regards to Ms. Marksman, "but I want to face my problems with the Slytherins head on, not go cower in a corner somewhere."

"I wish it were that simple Ms. Ravenclaw," McGonagall looked Renn straight on with a mixture of regret and exasperation. "The threats to your own well being are great enough that we want you split from the group. I will explain each of your personal safety concerns to you in private so if you wish to share them with the other you may decide when to do so. But until the threat level against each of you goes down, you will be rooming separately from the others; that is my final decision."

With that, McGonagall entered the archway into the Slytherin commons. The other girl started to follow her, but then turned to face Renn. "I'm Laney," she spoke in a barely audible voice before turning back into the dungeons. Renn went along behind Laney, but what she saw when she got through the door was unexpected. The Slytherins had actually made their dorm look like it wasn't in a dungeon—almost. Green tapestries hung all over the place, with silver candlestick holders and accents in various spots in the room. A lounge area with a fireplace sat dead center from where Renn had entered the room and two spiral staircases sat on opposite sides of it, leading presumably to the boys and girls dorms. Renn looked back towards McGonagall and Laney, who both looked around apprehensively. The Slytherins tour of their own dorm just split off down the two staircases, and as soon as they were all out of sight McGonagall went up to a green tapestry on the left side of the wall and shifted it to the left. A small indent filled with dust could be seen on what was otherwise a bare wall that was revealed by the tapestry's movement.

McGonagall placed her wand tip into the indent and said "Acromantula", revealing a third staircase behind the wall. McGonagall ushered them inside quickly before sliding the tapestry back into place and the wall slid closed behind them. Torches suddenly came on to illuminate the way up the stairs.

"It's a bit of a hike since the other dorms are all in towers, but you can use the charm Glisseo to turn the steps into a slide so you can get down to the dungeons faster," McGonagall explained and they came to a landing with several pillows on it. "We had to add that after a student broke some bones sliding directly into the wall further down."

"Headmaster," Laney spoke quietly from the corner. "Won't the other Slytherins wonder why we're never in the commons or where we disappear to at night through the indents?"

"You have a good point Ms. Marksman," McGonagall conceded as they continued up the never ending staircase. "The other Slytherins will never see you use the passageway because students in protected dorms are allowed an extra half hour to their curfew so the remaining members of their house are sent to bed before you go through the indents. Also, each member of the protected houses is allocated one time turner."

"A time turner?" Renn asked surprised. "My sister told me all of those were destroyed about twenty years ago when Harry Potter and his friends fought off the death eaters in the ministry!"

"Officially they were," McGonagall remarked. "Unofficially, select students are still able to procure time turners and can use them for extra classes, but students living separately need to have them so they can get into their dorm rooms without being seen by their classmates. Do you both know the rules of time turners?"

Renn and Laney shook their heads.

"The most important rule is that you must never be seen by yourself," McGonagall whirled to face them to emphasize her point, "far more experienced wizards than yourselves have been driven mad by the sight of their future selves. Time travel is not something to be trifled with, and unlike popular misconception, altering the past does not create a separate time flow—the time you experienced in the past is with all the alterations made in the future already built into it. Now, before I bore you to tears, let's go see your new room."

Just as she finished, the three of them arrived at another landing, this time with an ornate maple door at its top. McGonagall turned towards them once more, "the rooms here are much like the room of requirement—it changes depending on the students living in it, so when you step into the room you must go together and you will feel momentarily light headed and experience a falling sensation. Once you stop falling, your vision will blur, and the room will come into focus after a minute or two, newly configured to your needs."

"Won't you be coming in with us?" Renn asked, trying to keep her uncertainty about the whole situation out of her voice.

"If I did, the room would be altered to meet _my_ needs too, which is the last thing you two want trust me," McGonagall placed a hand reassuringly on each of their shoulders. "Now, go on in—the clock is ticking!"

And with that McGonagall ushered them both towards the room, and opened the door to a dark room. Laney looked at Renn cautiously, grabbed her hand and they both ran into the room. Renn felt like she just ran off a cliff, and just as suddenly her stomach zipped back into its proper place, and her vision blurred as McGonagall said it would. While her eyesight came back into focus, the room became brighter, until the room was filled with light and Renn's vision had returned to normal.

What she saw made her gasp—the room was twice the size of the room she had once shared with Rachel and Rain, and had two loft beds with desks underneath on opposite sides of the room. Everything in the room was in shades of blue, purple, or green, but the primary color in the room was purple, and tinges of gold and silver accentuated the furniture. Bookshelves lined every wall, full of books on every subject Renn could imagine. The ceiling swirled with constellations, and had three suns rotating in the sky that lit the entire room.

In the center of the room there were plush chairs, a golden pedestal with an empty book sitting on it and an owl engraving whose eyes followed you around the room, and in the dead center there was a table with a milky white, constantly changing surface, with wisps of shadows inside that Renn couldn't make out from where she stood. On one of the many bookshelves, there were jars of ingredients, tea bags, crystal balls, and other objects unfamiliar to Renn.

"Wow," Laney whispered in awe from Renn's right.

"Wow?" Renn turned to her new roommate, "this is beyond wow—this is incredible!" A big smile broke out on Laney's face and the two girls squeaked briefly in excitement to each other before racing to explore the room, Laney heading for the table in the center, and Renn heading towards the bookshelf with the strange objects on it.

A little rap was heard at the door they came in through, and both girls stopped what they were doing, having completely forgotten about Headmistress McGonagall waiting outside. Renn got up to get the door, and once Laney saw her go towards it, she continued staring at the table.

"How did it go?" McGonagall asked Renn when she opened the door. To answer her, Renn just opened the door further, and McGonagall smiled when she saw the room's interior. "Nicely done ladies, sometimes this room looks quite appalling depending on the students who occupy it," she began walking around the room, but froze when she saw Laney sitting at the table in the center, poking the shadows in the surface.

"However I'm surprised that the room manifested one of _those,"_ McGonagall said. "Do wither of you know what that is?"

Renn shook her head at the same time Laney nodded.

"In that case, I shall explain it to you Miss Ravenclaw," McGonagall started, "that's a seeing glass on the surface on that table. It is like a crystal ball combined with something the Muggles call a 'Magic-8ball', only it is more accurate and precise. A seeing glass when used properly can show you glimpses of the future based on how you word a question, but isn't used often because it requires more than one person with the predisposition to see the future."

"More than one?" Laney exclaimed, louder than any other time she had spoken since Renn saw her with Headmaster McGonagall. She looked embarrassed by her outburst and slouched a little, focusing her gaze back on the seeing glass.

"Yes Miss Marksman, more than one, which is why I find the presence of this one in your room so unusual," McGonagall continued, "however, they are not to be used lightly. There is the chance that a vision induced by the seeing glass can harm the users physically, and mentally. Some who have been foolish enough to touch one without the necessary skills have been stuck in a coma in St. Mungo's for the rest of their miserable lives being tortured by an unseen force. I hope this old school knows what it's doing.

"Oh, I almost forgot," McGonagall cut herself off and reached into her robes to pull out a small envelope. "A letter arrived for you Miss Ravenclaw. You both should head to the meeting shortly—I suspect some of the other students are waiting already. When you are ready, exit through that door there," McGonagall pointed with her wand to a door that until then neither of the girls had noticed off to the corner of the room, and proceeded to exit through it.

Renn took the envelope in hand, glancing at the seal as she did so; what she saw made her feel like she was falling again—the Raven's eye of her family's seal stared menacingly back at her from the back of the envelope. _Better now than never I guess,_ Renn figured, and opened the envelope to remove a single sheet of perfectly folded paper.

Renee,

I have heard the situation of your sorting ceremony, and I am extremely disappointed. Even the sorting hat could tell that nothing I have said to you for the last eleven years of your life has sunk in. I have decided it is time for an intervention. From this day forth, you are no longer a Ravenclaw; you have brought nothing but shame upon our family and will ruin our good name if you remain a part of it, and I will not squander my time, money, and energy on a lost cause. Your things will be sent to you forthwith.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Roxanne Ravenclaw

After she finished reading, Renn paused and re-read the entire letter twice to make sure she wasn't misreading something. Yes, her mother was eccentric, but she wouldn't kick her out…would she? But the handwriting was right, down to the loops on the Rs and the formal signature. Without realizing it, Renn started crying. Sure, the Ravenclaw house was a hard place to live, but Robin was there, and Robert was on occasion. Now, what's left?

"Renn," Laney's voice whispered from the corner, "are you ok?"

Renn hesitated. Normally she wouldn't open up to someone she had just met, but then again what about today had been normal? Plus, something in her gut told her she could trust Laney, that somehow despite their seeming differences that they were the same. She sighed and plopped down in one of the chairs by the seeing glass.

"Not really," Renn started, "my family wants me to be someone I'm not and now I've paid the price for it. That letter was my mom kicking me out and disowning me."

"What?" Laney's shock was written all over her face. "Parents aren't supposed to do that! A parent should love their child no matter what, even if they don't fit their perfect little mold!"

"Try telling my mother that," Renn grumbled, "or better yet, try telling anyone in my family that you are supposed to love each other no matter what. Except Robert and Robin, they face the wrath of my whole family any time they speak to me, or do something nice for me."

"Maybe one of them will help you," Laney suggested.

"Robin still lives at home or I'm sure she would," Renn thought out loud, "and after tonight I'm not sure if she'll want anything to do with me either. But Robert might help; I'll send him an owl after the meeting."

"Are you up to going?" Laney asked quietly.

"I have to be," Renn replied assuredly, "I've faked happiness for years—I can do it for another day." And with that, Renn wiped her eyes, took a deep breath in and stepped towards the door, Laney following close behind. Laney reached out and squeezed Renn's shoulder once, and Renn flashed her a smile before the two of them stepped out onto the floor.


End file.
